Blending machine



June 1 1926.

B. S. HARRINGTON BLENDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-snee?, l

Filed July l5 1925 June 1 1926.

r B. S. HARRINGTON BLENDING MACHINE 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed July 15 *fr QN DN NM Patented `lune l, 1926.

vUNITED STATES BEBTIE s. HABRI'NGTON,

F FORT WORTH, TEXAS.

BLENDING MACHINE.

Application led July 15, 1925. Serial No. 43,693.

TheI present invention has to do with the preparation of substances such as lard, lard'i compounds, and the like, .and is particularly concerned with a machine for improving the texture of such substances by the application thereto of a blending action.

The principal object of the invention is "to provide a continuously operable blending machine of novel construction, arrangement and/operation, which is capable ,of smoothing out all lum s in the'substance vbeing treated, eliminating any unevenness, in' consistency,land whipping the air content uniformly throughout the mass, whereby to give a more desirable cream-like texture to the substance. Other objects and advantages not specilically referred to in thisdisclosure will be evident to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the construction, arrangement and operation of the machine.

For the purpose of exempliication, one embodiment of the invention is set forth in the accompanying drawings and in the following detailed description, but as other variously modified embodiments are also obviously within the purview of the invention, the form herein presented is not to be considered as limiting the spirit of the invention short of its intended scope as defined in the appended claims. In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a sectional View of the machine, taken longitudinally of the same ff.

Fig. 2 is another sectional View, taken transversely on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 i an enlarged view, showing the stator partly in side elevation and partly in section and showing the rotor in side elevation; and" p e Fig. 4 is an end view of the stator and the rotor.

The machine illustrated'in the drawings is characterized by a casing 10 which is 45 .mounted on a basel 11 or other suitable support. The casing provides a cylindrical chamber in which a stator 12 and rotor '13 are ositioned. The substance to be treated in t e machine enters the casing through 50 an inlet port 14 in one end wall of the .wall of the chamber.

chamber, and, after being thoroughly treated therein between the stator and the rotor, leaves the casing throughA two outl let" ports 15 which communicate with an inwardly opening annular groove 16 in the 56 side wall of the chamber.

The stator 12 is a hollow cylindrical member which is so positioned within the casing as to constitute a lining for lthe side The portion of the 00 stator which spans the groove 16 in the side wall is provided with a large number of line radial perforations 17 through which the substance being treated must pass before leaving the casing through the 65 groove 16 and the outlet' portsl 15.

he rotor 13 is a member which has a cylindrical medial portion 18, two conical end portions 19 and a hub portion 20. The rotor is positioned concentrically in the 'l0 stator, with the cylindrical portion 18 of the rotor in closely fitting association with the perforated portion of the stator, and is rotated at a high rate of speed by a drive shaft 21 to oneendof which the hub portion 2O is secured. The shaft 21 is journalled at one side of the hub portion in a roller bearing 22 supported by the casing, and passes through a packed gland 23 in one end wall. The hub portion 20 is pro- 30 videdy with a number of longitudinally eX- tending ducts 24 which permit the substance entering the casing through the inlet port l5 to flow in two .substantially equal streams about both ends of the rotor and into the sa' two tapering spaces between the conical end portions of the rotor and the opposed cylin drical portions of the stator.

The outer surface of the rotor 13 vis provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending grooves or feedways 25 which are disposed at regular intervals circumferentially of the same. The feedways 25 and the resulting ribs 26 therebetween are preferably about equal in width. The outer surface of the rotor isalso provided with a plurality df helically extending grooves. or feedways 27, but the feedways 27 are restricted to the conical end portions and terminate at the margins of the cylindrical 55 thus been thoroughly mixed and worked,

portion. The feedways 27 in one end portion simulate right hand threads, while those in the other end portion simulate left hand threads. The feedways 27 'are of about the same proportioning and sp-acing as the feedways 25, and the intersections between the feedways form a large number of small rectangular fingers 28. The bottoms of all of the feedways in the rotor are treated is fed under pressure into the machine through the inlet 'port 14, after first being ltered through a preliminary strainer such as that illustrated in dotted lines at 29. It is not essential that a strainer be employed in connection with the machine, but it is desirable for the reason that the substance to be treated frequently contains foreign bodies such as wood chips, nail heads, tacks and the like, which might injure the machine were they permitted to enter the same.

After the substance enters the machine, it divides into two streams, one stream flowing outwardly about that end of the rotor which is nearest to the inlet port, and the other stream fiowing first through the ducts 24 in the hub portionof the rotor and then outwardly about the other end of the same.

The two streams then enter the tapering spaces between the conical end portions of the rotor and the opposed cylindrical portions of the stator, and move toward-each other through and about both the longitudi nallyV extending'feedways 25 and the helically extending feedways 27. The substance takes on the speed of the rotor as it enters the feedways and is given a rolling movement therein. rlhe substance traveling to ward the cylindrical portion of the rotor in the' feedways 25 commingles at the corners of the fingers 28 with'the substance moving in the feedways 27, and the substance outside of the feedways in the tapering spaces between the stator and therotor is worked by the fingers 28. After the substance has it enters the feedways 25 in the cylindrical portion of the rotor and is expressed from the feedways through the perforations in the stator. Each of the feedways 27 is'in communication with each of the perforations 17 for Such an infinitesimally small amount of time that the substance is highly comminuted by the shearin 26 in passing the perforations 17 during the egress of the substance.

action of the ribs When the substance leaves the outlet ports 15 of the machine, all of the lumps and unevennesses in the texture of the same will have been eliminated, leaving the substance in a perfectly homogeneous condition, with a lighter color, due to the thorough beating and distribution of the air content, andI with a greater specific gravity in relation to the color.

I claim:

1. A blending machine, comprising two closely fitting members mounted for relative rotation, one of the members having perforati'ons therein and the other having a feedway in the surface thereof adjacent the perforations.

2. A blending machine, comprising two closely fitting members mounted for relative rotation, one of the members having circumferentially spaced perforations therein and the other having circumferentially spaced feedways in the surface thereof adjacent the perforations.

3. A blending machine, comprising a tubular stator having perforations therein, and a closely fitting rotor in the stator having feedways in the outer surface thereof which revolve past the perforations in the stator.

4. A blending machine, comprising a tubular stator having perforations. therein, and a closely fitting rotor in the stator having longitudinally extending feedways in the outer surface thereof which revolve past the perforationsin the stator.

5. A blending machine, domprising a tubular stator having perforations therein, and a closely tting rotor in the stator having longitudinally extending feedways in the outer surface thereof which revolve past the perforations in the stator and helically extending feedways in the outer surface which intersect with the longitudinally extending feedways.

6. A blending closed casing, a tubular stator having perforations therein, a closely fitting rotor in the stator having feedways in the outer surface thereof which revolve past the perforations in the stator, an outlet port in the casing in communication with the perforations, and an inlet port in the casing in com'- munication with the feedways.

7. A blending machine, comprising a hollow cylindrical stator having a band of fine perforations therein, and a partly cylindrical and partly conical rotor in the stator having longitudinally extending feedways in the cylindrical portion which revolve past the perforations in the statorand helicallj1 extending feedways inthe conical portion which communicate with the longitudinally extending feedways.

8. A 'blending machine,- comprising a closed casing, a hollow cylindrical stator in the casingr having a band of fine perforamachine, comprising a A tions in the medial portion thereof,wa mediport in the casing in communication with ally cylindrical and laterally conical rotor the perforations, and an inlet port in the in the stator having longitudinally extendcasing in communication with the feedwaiys. l0 ing feedways in the outer Surfaces of both In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub- 5 the cylindrical and conical portions and heli.- scribed my name. v

cally extending feedways in the outer surface of only the conic'al portionss an outlet BERTIE S. HARRINGTON. 

